Valve for refrigerating apparatus



H. M. WILLIAMS .VALVE FOR REFHIGERATING APPARATUS July 27, 1937.

INVENTOR.

' Filed Dec. 7. 1934 Patented July 27, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,038,102 Y VALVE FOR REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Harry M. Williams, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application December 7, 1934, Serial No. 756,5ii3

1 Claim.

.-This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to valve structures.

Heretofore, where a very perfect closing valve ,is desired, valves or valve seats have often been.

made of leather, rubber, rubber substitutes or fiber. These materials are, however, subject to considerable wear and distortion, as well as dedurable metallic surface.

terioration, particularly when subject to the action of refrigerants in refrigerating systems.

' It is an object of my invention to provide a valve structure in which one of the sealing surfaces is made of resiliently backed thin metal.

7 It is a further object of my invention to provide a rubber-like valve seat with a flexible 'Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of a refrigerating system including an enlarged cross sectional View of a thermostatic refrigerant valve embodying my invention; and

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged cross sectional view of the valve seat shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a compressor 2t driven by an electric motor 22 for compressing the refrigerant and for forwarding the compressed refrigerant to a condenser 24 where the compressed refrigerant is liquefied and collected in a receiver 26. The liquid refrigerant is'forwarded from the condenser through a sup- 0 ply conduit 28 under the control of an expansion The return valve 38 is provided with a forgedbody 44 connected by a tubular member 46 to a thermostatic portion 18 which has a tube 50 and a. thermostatic bulb 52 connected thereto. Within thisthermostatic portion "is a bellows 54 which has its movable end wall resting upon anut 56 mounted on the upper adjustable portion f 58 of the valve rod 60. This upper portion. is

urged in an upward direction by a heavy coil spring 62 extendlngbetweenthe valve body ll surface.

' 'valve.

and a spring retainer B l held by the nut 56. A sealing bellows 56 surrounds the valve stem and is sealed at one end to the valve body and sealed at the other end to the upper adjustable portion 58. The valve stem 60. extends into the valve body and is provided with a valve generally designated by the reference character 10 which is fastened to the valve stem by a nut 12 threaded upon the lower end of the valve stem which holds the valve ill against a shoulder I4 formed on the valve stem.- The' lower end of the valve stem is provided with a square portion for holding it with a wrench Referring more particularly to Fig. 2, the valve is shown formed of a cup shaped metal member 15 containing a rubber or rubber-like composition 18 which fills the cup shaped member excepting for the aperture 80.which receives the threaded portion of the valve stem 60. Permanently secured to the surface of this rubber or rubber-like composition 18 is a thin metal disc 82. This disc may be made ofthin copper or bronze stainless steel or other suitable material and may be bonded to the surface of the rubber by vulcanizing, cementing or other suitable means. This metal maybe as thin as .005".

This valve structure is adapted to bear against the valve seat at within the valve body 14. The valve seat Bil may be formed of the same material as the valve body such as cast brass. This seat is preferably machined to a smooth concentric However, any misalignment in the surface of the seat will be accommodated by the backed by the 18.

This thin metal may be provided with a thin coating of lead so as to provide a soft metal surface for engaging the valve seat. The thin metal, if desired, may be electroplated with brass W in order to aid in vulcanizing the thin metal to the rubber-like material. Other metals may be used for the thin metal on the surface of the rubresilient surface provided by the thin metal 82 rubber or rubber-like composition ber-like material and valve rubber and other resilient compounds may be used according to their the rubber or rubber-like material'from the ac tion of the refrigerants and lubricant in the system and yet this structure retains a substantial portion of the resiliency of the rubber-like material suiiieient to insure tight closing of the Although my invention has been shown as applied to a valve proper, it is also.equally applicable to the valve seat.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein described constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood thatother forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of 5 the claim which follows. substantially into contact with the inner wall of What is claimed is as follows: the cup-shaped member, said thin metal being A valve member including a cup-shaped membonded to the rubber-like material. her, a. rubber-like material within and substantlally filling the cup-shaped member, and a flat disc-shaped member providing a seating surface of thin metal less than 0.006 thick extending across the face of the rubber-like material within the cup-shaped member and extending HARRY M. WlLLIAMS. 

